Black and White
by Vampire Midnighter 1339
Summary: Harry needed some space after the battle but his new life blurred the lines between black and white a little too much. Bored in the underworld, he switched sides. Now a member of New York's White Collar Crimes Unit, Agent Harrison Lupin-Black gets to work alongside some of the best. One problem; his friends and family back in England have no idea about anything. OT3 Neal/Peter/El.
1. Battle Worn

At last. It was all over. The light side had won the battle of Hogwarts.

Harry sighed as his eyes opened on the 3rd of May. He pulled himself out of the four poster bed in the seventh year Gryffindor dorm.

"Morning mate" Harry looked over at the other bed as he pulled on his glasses

"Hey, tough day yesterday wasn't it?" Harry gave the red head a wan smile as he pulled himself out of bed

"You idiot. If you ever do that to us again I'll kill you myself" Ron hugged him

"Are we interrupting something?" a girl's voice asked

Harry looked up to see Hermione and Ginny standing in the doorway

"Hey" he smiled at Ginny as she came over and pressed a gentle kiss to his pale lips "sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you yesterday, I was a little busy" he smirked, making light of it, that was until his head snapped to the right sharply

"OW!" he yelped, clapping a hand to his abused cheek

"Don't you EVER do that to me again Harry James Potter" Ginny's brown eyes filled with tears as she hugged him tightly

"I'm sorry" he whispered "I am so sorry"

"Come on, we should go and have breakfast" Hermione patted Ginny on the shoulder and gave Harry a half hearted punch to the chest

"Ow" Harry mumbled softly, Hermione rolled her eyes.

)O(

The four of them wandered into the Great Hall ten minutes later to applause and cheers. Mrs. Weasley came dashing over and grabbed Harry, pulling into one of her trademark suffocating hugs.

"Morning Mrs. Weasley" Harry gasped

"I think after all this time and given that you're an adult now, I'll let you call me Molly" she smiled and kissed his cheek, which was still red form Ginny's earlier mistreatment

"Ok then, Molly" he hugged her back, his chin resting on top of her red hair which was now liberally streaked with gray.

"Let's get some food in you, when did you last eat?" she tugged him along by the hand towards the table

"Generally or food that was actually edible?" he joked, taking a pop at Hermione's non-existent cooking skill

"You know what I mean" the older woman ruffled his hair

"I can't remember" he shrugged

"That's it then" she tightened her grip and near enough dragged him to the table.

"After all this time, you still insist on forcing triple portions down my throat" he laughed as she loaded up a plate for him.

)O(

Three months had passed. Three months since the battle but still Harry couldn't get used to the newfound peace the post-Voldemort world offered.

"Harry? Are you alright dear?" a voice broke through the emerald eyed boy's stupor

"Hmm? What?" Harry jerked back into alertness as Mr. Weasley laid a hand on his shoulder, his wife behind him, looking concerned

"Oh? Yes, I'm fine, just dozing off is all" he smiled

"Harry" Mrs. Weasley sat down in front of him and took his hand kindly "Arthur and I have been talking" she began

_Oh no_ Harry thought, _here it comes, the concerned parent routine._

"And we think you should maybe talk to someone" she went on

"Molly, I'm fine" his throat caught where he was still unused to referring to them as Molly and Arthur

"You need something to take your mind off of the- the war" Molly's breath caught as she tried to talk about it

"I've been thinking I need to do something that takes me away from all the painful memories actually" Harry said, for the first time voicing the idea that had been floating around in his mind for the last month

"Like what? I'm sure it would be good for you" Molly smiled

"Leaving. Not permanently, I'd still visit; got to keep an eye on Ginny and I'd need to visit Teddy so.." he tailed off

"Where would you go?" Arthur asked

"I was thinking of leaving the country, America maybe? I wouldn't have to worry about the language then" he took a deep breath

"As long as you promise to visit us once a month at the very least" Molly looked at him

"I will, I promise. I'll visit Hermione, Luna and Andromeda and Teddy once a month too, always on the weekend obviously. I'll write to all of you once a week too, so you know I'm ok" he assured them

"Where in America will you go?" Molly asked

"I like Seattle, in Washington. It seems like a decent place, rains a lot too, like here in England" he smiled

"When will you leave?"

"Soon, I actually already have everything arranged, I was just trying to figure out how to tell everyone" he looked at his feet guiltily

"Well, make sure to write, or floo call and visit ok?" Arthur ruffled his hair

"I will, I promise" Harry smiled and hugged them

)O(

A week later, Harry stood in departures at Heathrow airport, saying goodbye to the Weasleys, Hermione, Luna and Andromeda and Teddy.

"Bye Teddy, take care of grandma ok?" he whispered to the blue haired baby as he hugged the older woman

"You be careful Harry" Andromeda kissed his cheek

"I will Andy, don't worry" he smiled at her

"Here, for you" Luna said he pulled away from Andy

"What is it?" he raised an eyebrow at the small box, opening it, he saw a small silver chain with two circular pendants

"Saint Christopher and Saint Louise, patrons of travellers and orphans respectively" Luna smiled "I thought you'd like it"

"Thanks Luna" he pulled the chain from the box and put it around his neck

"Be safe" the blonde pinched his cheek lightly

"Stay out of trouble Potter" Hermione told him

"Hermione, I'm a wizard, not a miracle worker" he shook his head, just then, his flight was called. He gave one last round of hugs and waved goodbye as he pulled his suitcase away.

)O(

Harry sat on the plane, looking out of the window as they took off. Harry wasn't sure what he was going to, but it was better than what he was leaving behind.

Author's Notes.

I'm gonna have to tweak the White Collar timeline to fit with the Harry Potter one for this story, so instead of 2009, season 1 was in 1997 so that this story takes place in season 5 (the as yet unwritten season).

Not much mention of White Collar in this chapter, chapter two will have the first mention of a W.C. character so keep your eyes peeled folks.


	2. Prince of Thieves

A dark shadow flitted across the gallery, moving swiftly towards the area that the most valuable paintings. Taking a small piece of sticky tack, the dark figure placed it over the pressure pads to disarm the alarm sensors and cut the large Rembrandt from the frame, leaving the frame on the wall.

He slipped back out of the building quickly and quietly and jumped into the nondescript white van via the side door.

"In and out in less than twenty, not bad for a brit" the woman in the driving seat smiled as they pulled away quickly

"You know me Miss Hunter, always happy to surprise" Harry said as he pulled off his mask and placed the precious painting in a wooden box for protection

"You may have only been in the business for less than a year but you already have a reputation" the older woman smiled

"Oh yeah?" he clambered over the back of the passenger seat

"You bet, they're calling you 'The Prince of Shadows'. There's a ton of legends and superstitions about you; some say you can walk through walls, some people think you're just a legend and that you don't really exist, some people are even pinning crimes on you that you didn't do" Alex laughed as they drove through Seattle

"I'm Seattle's answer to The Dentist of Detroit is what you're saying?" he chuckled

"You betcha. Hey, did you hear what happened to Caffrey?" Alex turned to the teen

"Caffrey? As in Neal Caffrey? **The **Neal Caffrey? No, what happened?" Harry unwrapped a stick of gum and began blowing bubbles

"He turned" Alex said gravely

Harry chocked "no way" he stared at her, wide eyed. Neal Caffrey? Turn CI? He couldn't believe it

"Yes way. The FBI have got him consulting for them, he's on some kind of work release program from prison" Alex shook her head

"Well damn" Harry huffed

"Seems we're both behind the times, he's been doing it for about four years now apparently" she shrugged

"Just goes to show you" Harry blew another bubble

"You know what that means though right? With Neal out of the picture?"

"What?" he looked at her

"Caffrey was King of the cons, with him turned over to the light side, you, as his heir apparent, are the new King" Alex explained

"Holy cow" his chartreuse eyes widened as he realised the truth in her words. The criminal Underworld of Seattle had long called him the next Neal Caffrey, the Prince of Thieves.

"Good luck kiddo, oh, and happy holidays" Alex smiled as she pushed him out of the van and drove away

"Double crossing bitch" he muttered as he picked himself up off of the ground, cursing himself for agreeing to help her with the heist. Pissed at himself and cursing Alex Hunter for her two faced ways, he apparated back to his apartment.

)O(

Harry spent another year enjoying infamy as Seattle's Prince of Shadows. It was fun, especially asking other criminals who hadn't met him before what they knew about the famous con artist.

The only problem was that it was starting to get boring, he couldn't help but think about what Neal Caffrey reportedly had going for him in NYC. That was when he came to the decision which changed his life. He left Seattle behind and joined the FBI.

)O(

Five months of training was easy, his magic aiding him when he couldn't get through on his own. He graduated as a fully fledged FBI agent in May 2001, his actual ceremony was on the second of May, ironically.

His smarts and the mail order psychology course he'd taken got him into the Behavioural Analysis Unit, but he only spent a month there, he struggled to cope with all the death and sadness he saw in the cases; he'd seen enough of that during the war.

A few weeks in, Chief Strauss called him into her office.

"Agent Black" she gestured for him to sit down "it's been brought to my attention that you've been having trouble dealing with some of the things you've seen as a member of the BAU"

"I assume you know about the terrorist attacks in England during the late nineties?" he asked her

"I'm aware of them yes" she looked at him

"I was, involved" he said quietly "I saw to many people I knew dead during those days to really be able to cope with some of this"

"I'm so sorry, how old were you when it started?"

"Fifteen" he swallowed

"I see. Agent Black I'm herby transferring you to a unit where you are unlikely to have to deal with death and pain on such a regular basis. I'm sending you to the White Collar crimes Unit in New York" she patted the younger man's hand kindly "in the meantime, I want you to take paid leave pending the transfer"

"Gladly Ma'm, thank you for doing this" he smiled and left, heading back to the bull pen.

"Hey, what did Strauss want?" Emily Prentiss asked as he entered

"Which of you was it that told Strauss I wasn't coping well with the cases?" he asked, leaning on the edge of the desk, the other agents exchanged looks of surprise

"It was me" Harry turned to see Penelope Garcia, the technical analyst

"Penny" Harry looked at her

"Don't tell me you're fine, Harry, because you're not. I can see it, we can all see it" she looked at him, sobbing slightly

Harry wrapped his arms around the older woman and hugged her tightly "thank you Penny" he whispered

"You're ok?" she asked, surprised

"Yeah, I was thinking of asking for a transfer soon anyway. Strauss is sending me to the White Collar Crimes Unit in New York" he smiled and tapped her cheek kindly

"When do you leave?" Derek asked

"It should take a few weeks for the paperwork to go through but until then I'm on paid leave for personal reasons" Harry smiled

"We'll miss you. Call us, e-mail, text, smoke signals, anything" JJ ordered

"Yes Ma'm" Harry smiled and went to go empty his desk, he may have only been with the BAU a month but the team were like family to him.

)O(

A month later, the paperwork had gone through and he'd bought an apartment in New York. He was to start his new job on Monday. In the meantime, he had more important things to attend to. Namely, dinner with the Weasleys.

"Hey Molly" Harry called, smiling as he walked into The Burrow

"Hawy!" a young voice called and Harry found himself almost toppled over when the owner of said voice grabbed him around the knees

"Hey Teddy!" Harry picked the little boy up and hugged him tight as Molly and Andy came dashing into the room after the wayward four year old

"Harry, you're early" Molly smiled at him as he fussed over his godson

"Well I have nothing to do until Monday and I was bored sat around the apartment" he shrugged as he tickled Teddy

"Oh? I thought your job meant you sometimes had to work weekends?" Andy asked

"Oops, busted. I got a transfer into the New York division and I'm not needed until Monday, I've moved into a new apartment now that I'm not living in DC anymore" Harry held Teddy in front of him to protect himself from the imminent fury of the two matriarchs.

"So you've moved again? Will you please make your mind up Harry dear, I can't keep up with you sometimes" Molly ruffled the younger man's hair

"Sorry Molly, here's my new address" he fished a piece of paper out of his pocket with his free hand

"Good, no more moving around ok?" she looked at the twenty one year old sternly

"Ok, who else is here anyway?" he asked

"Just us, Hermione and Luna" Molly smiled

"Oh good, that means I don't have to write to the girls separately" he let out a puff of air and readjusted Teddy in his arms

"So is this job the same as your old one?" Andy asked

"Similar, but not the same; no jetting off across the country on short notice for this one, strictly within the borders of New York City for this one" Harry told her

"Oh? What sort of job is it?" she asked

"Desk job, office work mostly. It's a, security firm" he lied smoothly, he didn't want to worry them with the truth, he'd never told them about his days as a thief, with good reason, and he wasn't about to tell them he was in the FBI

"Is that so? Well good luck, and try to stay out of trouble" Molly hugged him tight as Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Luna entered the room

"Hello Harry" Luna smiled

"Hi Luna, hey guys" he smiled at them

"Hey yourself, what's this about a new job?" Ron asked

"Not new per se, more like a different position in the same job" he explained

"Good luck to you, what happened with the old job?" Ron asked

"I still work for the same company, the old job was in marketing" not really a lie, both needed a gift for reading people "this new job is in anti-industrial espionage, I stop people trying to defraud the company and such" again, not _technically _a lie

"Anti-industrial espionage huh? Lucky you" Hermione smiled and hugged him, pausing to disentangle her hair from Teddy's fingers as she pulled away

"Thanks, it's predominantly a _white collar _job" he put subtle emphasis on the words 'white collar' as he spoke

"Sometimes, Harry Potter, I get the feeling there's something you're not telling us" Ginny laughed

"Me? Keep secrets? Never" Harry smiled and kissed her.

The rest of the family arrived soon and they all sat down for dinner, pausing only to raise a couple of toasts, one to absent friends, and the other to wish Harry luck in his new job. Harry had a felling he might need it.

)O(

Monday morning and Harry pulled his car into the underground parking lot of the FBI building. Today was to be his first day in his new job. He went through the security and stepped into the lift at the same time as a dark skinned woman.

"Where to?" he asked kindly

"21st floor" she replied

"What a coincidence, that's exactly where I'm headed, White Collar Division?" he asked with a smile

"Yeah, Diana Barrigan" she held out a hand

"Harrison Lupin-Black, most people just call me Harry Black" he shook her hand as the lift stopped at the 21st floor

The two agents walked through the glass door into the main office, Harry holding it open for her. She laughed.

"What?" he looked at her

"You have a British accent and you held the door open for me, it's like a walking stereotype" Diana smiled

"English accent," he corrected "and I was taught to always be a gentleman and hold a door open for a lady" he smiled

"Hey Diana" a man with brown hair and bright blue eyes called from the desk to the left of the door

"Hey Neal" Diana called back with a wave

"So that's the famous Neal Caffrey; King of Thieves" Harry nodded

"Who's your friend?" Neal asked, coming over

"Agent Harrison Lupin-Black" Diana said with an attempt at an English accent

Harry rolled his eyes "Harry Black, I just transferred in from the BAU" he smiled

"Behavioural Analysis Unit huh? Bit of a step down to White Collar isn't it?" Neal asked

"I needed a change" Harry shrugged

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you" Neal smiled slyly and held out his hand, as he shook it, he felt his watch slip off his wrist "you should keep an eye on your belongings though agent Black" Neal held up Harry's watch

"Harry please, and you should too" Harry told him, holding up Neal's own watch

"Oh, hello. I like this guy" Neal said to Diana as the two men traded watches

"Don't try to play me unless you're willing to break the rules Neal" Harry smiled evilly

"You need to be introduced to the team properly" Neal said and without further ado he whistled sharply "Ladies and gentlemen" he called, getting everyone's attention "may I introduce the new boy; Agent Harry Black, the first man to successfully reciprocate the Caffrey hand shake snatch" he bowed and showed the surrounding agents his watch, which he hadn't yet put back on his wrist.

The other agents clapped and a few even whistled in Harry's direction. At that moment, an older man in an off the rack suit approached

"Agent Black? Peter Burke, we're glad to have you" he said with a smile

"Pleasure to meet you boss, where do I sit?" Harry asked, recognising that this was his new boss

"Just there to the left of the door, we have a briefing in ten minutes so just leave your stuff" agent Burke pointed

"Thanks very much" he walked over and put his box down on the empty desk, taking out the photo of him, Ginny, Ron and Hermione and placing it on the desk.

He spent the next few minutes placing his things on the desk, all the time aware that he was being watched. Turning, he saw that Neal was watching him.

"Enjoying the view Neal?" he asked with a smooth smile

"Peter and Elizabeth would kill me if I said yes. What's a Brit doing in the FBI?" the ex-con asked

"I needed a break after some stuff that happened back home. The break turned into me joining the FBI" Harry laughed

"That you?" the older man asked, pointing to the photo

"Yeah, me, my girlfriend; Ginny, her brother; Ron and his girlfriend; Hermione. Me, Ron and Hermione were friend since our first year at school, I started dating Ginny when I was in sixth and she was in fifth" Harry pointed them out

"Sounds like private school education" Neal observed

"Yeah, in Scotland, big old castle in a forest near a lake" Harry told him "we'd better go" he added, pointing to where the other agents were heading up the stairs

"Good point, I'll get whipped again if I'm late" Neal muttered almost imperceptibly.

The two men joined the rest of the team in the conference room at the top of the stairs.

_I think I'm going to like it here_ Harry thought to himself as he sat between Neal and Diana.

)O(

Author's Notes.

The case will be in the next chapter, I figure I'd better leave it here because this is getting really long.


	3. To Coin a Phrase

"Ok team, we received intel that this man," Agent Burke pointed to the image on the screen "Anthony Sheppard, is planning to steal a 1913 Liberty Head V Nickel from the American Numismatic Society Museum"

"Yikes" Neal raised his eyebrows at that

"No kidding, you're looking at 4 and half mill easy" Harry intoned

"The new boy knows his stuff" Neal smiled and gave the younger man a playful punch on the arm

"Focus please. Harry's right, we were tipped off by an anonymous tip, so let's try and stop this guy before he steals the coin" Agent Burke interrupted

"I'm new at this, so forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn," Harry shifted awkwardly in his chair "but we have no proof he plans to steal the coin, so what do we arrest him on?" he sat up a little straighter "What if we get someone on the inside, he'll need help to steal that coin. Once the coin is in his hands, the rest of us swoop in, make the arrest with the stolen goods on him" he shrugged and sat back when nobody spoke "just a suggestion" he mumbled

"He has a point" a dark skinned man* pointed out

"He sure does, Neal? You up for a little undercover work?" Agent Burke asked

"Sure, but I want the new boy to be the one to slap the cuffs on Sheppard, this trick was his idea after all" Neal smiled

"Gladly" Harry smirked

"Ok, we need to get Neal in with Sheppard first" Agent Burke reminded them

"Leave it to me, I'm sure our friend Haversham can help me out here" Neal smiled

"Good, Jones, I want you and Diana to keep tabs on Sheppard" Agent Burke addressed the man who had spoken in defence of Harry's plan before

"What about me boss?" Harry asked

"Peter, we're all on first name terms here, except Jones because he hates his first name" Agent Burke- no, Peter told him

"Sorry, but still, where do you need me?" Harry smiled

"Down there" Peter pointed to the coffee room "new boy makes the coffee"

"Of course I do" the raven haired man shook his head with a smile

)O(

"Here we go" Peter said as he pulled his chair in closer to the desk

"Does it always smell this bad in here?" Harry asked.

They, that is; Harry, Peter, Jones and Diana, were sat in the municipal van, which stank to high Heaven in the heat of early July.

"Unfortunately, it's worse in the summer" Jones shrugged

"Hurry it up Neal" Harry huffed under his breath

"Looks like he heard you" Diana nodded to the screen, the van they knew Neal and Sheppard were using as their getaway vehicle had just come screeching out of the parking lot

"Let's go!" Peter banged on the wall of the van and the agent in the driver seat hit the accelerator

"Whoa!" Harry yelled as the chair went out from under him when they took a corner

"Don't sweat it, you'll learn the art of in-van high speed pursuit chair balancing eventually" Diana laughed as he picked himself up

Peter was calling for back-up, soon the road ahead of the other van was blocked and they were on hand to stop them turning around.

"FBI! Out of the van!" Peter ordered, the agents all had guns drawn, Sheppard, Caffrey and the three other guys from the team got out of the van and put their hands on the back of their heads. True to his promise, Harry personally slapped the cuffs on Sheppard.

)O(

"Good job Neal" Harry smiled as he sat on the edge of the other man's desk

"Thanks, headin' home?" Neal smiled

"Yeah. Just me, a good book, a nice glass of Merlot and a box of chocolates" Harry smiled

"Ooh, nice choice, which region of origin?" Neal asked

"I tend to prefer an Italian Merlot but this particular bottle is California made" Harry smiled

"That's it, I'm comin' home with you" Neal latched onto his arm

Harry laughed "not if I live outside your radius you're not"

"Address, now" Neal ordered as he opened Google Earth on his computer

"West 97th and Central Park West" Harry rolled his eyes

Neal looked at him, stunned "what?" Harry asked

"Who did you con to get a place on CPW?" Neal asked

"Central Park West? Who's the lucky son of a-?" Jones asked as he came over

"Me" Harry interrupted before Jones could finish

"Damn" the man raised his eyebrows

"Right there" Harry pointed to his building, "studio apartment, that's my bedroom window" he pointed it out

"Like I said before, who did you con-" Neal asked

"Nobody, I inherited enough money from my parents to afford it" Harry laughed, that, and the proceeds from his previous exploits.

"Well it's inside my radius so I'm comin' whether you like it or not" Neal switched off his computer

Harry rolled his eyes "ok, fine. Come on" he grabbed his jacket and the leather satchel he used instead of a briefcase

"Peter, I'm going to Harry's" Neal called to Peter, who was in his office

"He has you on a short lead" Harry laughed as Neal joined him in the elevator

"You have no idea" Neal chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows

)O(

"So this is the place huh?" Neal asked as they stopped outside the door

The door was white with a frosted glass window and a mail slot.

"Yeah, this is me. Shoes off please" Harry told him

"Really?"

"Really" Harry opened the door and they entered the room, the walls were a pale red colour which matched the red leather furniture.

Beside the door was a shoe shelf and in the corner was a coat rack. Toeing off his shoes on the welcome mat, Neal looked around at the apartment. On a large rug in the middle of the room was a glass coffee table which held a pile of papers and an open book with a bookmark. Against the wall where the door was located was a grandfather clock and a large bookshelf, on top of which were a couple of vases and a stereo, an easel sat in front of it, next to the replica Van Gogh that hung on the back wall next to the upright piano, on the other side of which was a replica Mondrian beside the door which presumably lead to the bedroom.

Beside the door, under the window, was an ironing board, next to the French doors which led to a terrace. Against the far wall, next to the doors, was a red kitchenette, with a small refrigerator, washer and dryer, trash can and sink. A coffee maker sat on the marble countertop, next to the stove top kettle next to the range cooker.

In front of the kitchen area was a red leather sofa at the end of the coffee table, between the table and the piano was a red leather sofa big enough for five, at the other end was a red leather armchair. Opposite the sofa was a fireplace, above which was a large, flat-screen TV. A standing lamp stood near the window.

"Damn, nice place" Neal said as he straightened up after putting his shoes on the shoe shelf

"Thanks, I like it. If you wanna stay over that's a sofa bed" he pointed to the red sofa near the kitchen

"I might take you up on that. I hate to be a pain but can I use the bathroom?" Neal asked

"It's no problem. The bathroom's through there on the right. The only way in is through the bedroom" Harry shrugged

"No problem, I won't peek at your underwear" Neal laughed as he opened the door

"There isn't much to see mate" Harry smiled and went to the fridge.

Neal went through into the bathroom. Just inside the door was the sink with a mirror above it, against the back wall, in the corner, was the bath, a large marble affair with a blue bath mat next to it. The floor was light blue tiles and the walls were tiled in a darker turquoise. Opposite the bath, at the other end of the room, was the shower, next to which was the toilet.

After he finished up, Neal took his time to take in the décor of the bedroom. The walls were pale lavender while the floor was carpeted in a paler shade. The wall beside the door back to the lounge was covered in mirrors. Against the far wall was a free standing closet, a mirror, a dresser, standing lamp, armoire, radiator and book case. A Queen size bed sat between the two windows, on either side of which were a pair of bedside tables on one was an alarm clock and the other held a lamp. A footlocker sat on a blue rug at the foot of the bed. Against the bathroom wall was a black desk with a leather swivel chair and a purple desk lamp. A Popova painting hung between the desk and the cupboard which seemed to hold spare sheets, on the other side of the bathroom door was a radiator. A changing screen stood in front of the mirror wall.

"Neal? You ok bud?" Harry asked as he came into the room

"Admiring the décor" he gestured at the room

"Thanks, you wanna watch a movie?" Harry blushed

"What've you got?" Neal asked

"How about Ocean's 11?"

"Classic, and appropriate given my history" blue eyes shone with good humour

"You're not the only one" Harry said without thinking

"What?" Neal asked

"Oh uh, nothing, just a joke" Harry said quickly

"Ok then" Neal couldn't help but think that the new boy was hiding something. Something that he was determined to discover.

oOo

_Author's Note_

This story takes place during season 6 in my head so that it doesn't interfere with cannon too much.

* I wasn't sure how to describe Jones, so I wrote that, hope it doesn't offend anyone.

Next chapter is set several months later than this, Harry will flashback to when he met the 3 'non-suits' (El, Mozzie and June), so keep an eye out for that one.

Will Neal discover Harry's chequered past? Wait and see.


	4. 3 Non-Suits

Harry had worked in white collar for almost a year now. In fact his one year anniversary was coming up in just two weeks. Harry lay back on the sofa in his apartment and thought about all the things that had happened during the last twelve months. He remembered when he'd met Neal's landlady; June, and the mysterious 'Haversham' for the first time, completely by accident.

oOo

Harry was getting ready to go out of the door when his phone rang.

"Black residence" he said as he picked up the phone

"Harry, it's Peter, can you escort Neal to work today for me? He's not allowed to come on his own as part of his bail conditions, he has to be escorted to work. The problem is I'm sick and can't make it in today" Peter explained

"I'll pick him up, what's the address?" Harry asked

"87 Riverside" Peter said with a cough

"Got it, don't worry Peter, I'll get Neal into work, you focus on feeling better ok?" Harry smiled

"Will do, thanks Harry" Peter coughed and hung up.

Harry left the apartment and got into his car. The house where Neal lived wasn't far from his own apartment, so he got there in about five minutes. He walked up the steps and knocked on the dark oak doors. The doors opened to reveal an older African-American woman.

"Hello Ma'm, I'm here for Neal? Peter can't pick him up today because he's ill" Harry found himself sounding embarrassingly like someone sent to pick a child up for school

"Hello dear, you must be Harry; Neal's talked about you" the woman smiled warmly and stood back to let him in

"Yes Ma'm, sorry to intrude" the younger man said politely

"It's no trouble dear and please, call me June" she smiled

"Well you have a beautiful house June, forgive my forwardness but it reflects well upon the lady that owns it" Harry smiled back at her

"Oh, you are just like Neal, charming to a fault, no wonder you get on so well. He's upstairs, right to the top. Would you like some tea?" June asked, giving him a playful smack on the arm as he tipped an invisible hat to her, bowing slightly

"Thank you kindly June, it's almost impossible to get a good cup of tea in Manhattan. I have a spare half an hour before Neal and I need to leave for work, I always leave early to avoid the traffic" he smiled as she wandered away

Harry walked up to the studio apartment on the top floor and knocked the door.

"Come in Peter" Neal's voice called from the other side

"I'm not Peter but I'll come in anyway" Harry laughed as he opened the door

"Oh hey Harry" Neal looked surprised to see him

"Peter's ill, so I came to escort you to work instead" Harry smiled "Hello there" he added to the small, bald man that was hiding on the terrace outside

"That's Mozzie, also know among our FBI friends as Dante Haversham" Neal explained

"Neal, don't the suit who I am" Mozzie entered the room

"Relax Moz, he's the new guy on Peter's team" Neal explained

"Oh, well, nice to meet you, British Suit" Mozzie nodded curtly

"He has a nickname for everyone on the team" Neal shook his head with a roll of his eyes

"I don't mind, it makes me feel like part of the family" Harry smiled, just then, June entered the room

"Hello boys, here's your tea dear" she handed the cup to Harry

"You're a saint June, mmm, this is good" he said as he took a sip

"You're welcome dear" the older woman giggled like a school girl and left the room, giving Harry a little wave as she close the door behind her

"She likes you" Neal observed

"I have a certain way with women, it's a British thing" he laughed "I'll tell you now, it came in really handy when I was- never mind, we have to leave as soon as I've finished this, so I'll wait downstairs for you Neal" he stopped midsentence and changed topic quickly and left.

What Harry didn't realise is that after he left, Neal had turned to Mozzie.

"See what I mean? He's hiding something about his past" Neal said

"He's a suit Neal, and besides, everyone has secrets" Mozzie shrugged

"Yeah but I think this is something big, look into the guy for me would you?" Neal asked as he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair

"I'll ask around, see if I can find anything" Mozzie sat back down with his wine glass as Neal left the room.

oOo

Harry smiled as he thought about how strange Mozzie had seemed, he knew the man well enough to understand where all his little quirks came from now. The older con was even starting to trust him.

Another key event he remembered was when he met Elizabeth Burke for the first time. Although that was in far less enjoyable circumstances.

oOo

Harry's foot tapped a nervous staccato beat against the white tile floor of the waiting room. Peter paced backwards and forewords across the room while Jones and Diana sat nervously, opposite each other.

Quick footsteps were heard and then a woman with long black hair and blue eyes came running up to them.

"Peter!" she gasped as she skidded to a halt in front of them

"El" Peter had grabbed her and hugged her tight

"Where is he? Where's Neal?" she asked breathlessly

"Still in surgery, we don't know anything yet" Peter bit his lip and the three other agents rushed over quickly to help him grab his wife as her legs gave way

"He'll be ok Mrs. Burke, I'm sure of it" Harry smiled and rubbed her upper arms kindly. At that moment, a Doctor appeared.

"Agent Burke?" she asked

"Yes" Peter stood to face her quickly

"Mr. Caffrey is going to be fine. Thankfully the shotgun shell appeared to have been homemade, the maker must have skimped of powder and pellets because the injury wasn't as bad as it could have been, the fact that it came through a door which slowed the pellets helped a lot" she told him

"Neal's ok?" Peter asked

The Doctor nodded "he'll need to stay with someone who can watch him for a week or so after we discharge him, though that won't be for another couple of weeks yet" she explained

Peter let out a sigh of relief and ran his hands through his hair "thank you Doctor" he said and collapsed into a chair

"Thank God" Mrs. Burke breathed deeply as she leant over to rest her head on her husband's shoulder

"I told you he'd be ok Mrs. Burke" Harry smiled, relieved to hear that his friend was ok

"El please, call me El" she smiled wearily at him

"Pleasure to meet you El, Harry Black, I wish we could have met under better circumstances" he shook her hand

"Nice to meet you Harry" she smiled again.

Neal had been released into Peter and El's care two weeks later and within a month he was back at work.

oOo

A knock at the door jolted Neal out his case file induced stupor.

"Neal, we need to talk" Mozzie said as he entered the room

"Hey Moz, what's up?" Neal asked, his eyebrows drawn down in concern

"Harry. I did some digging, there's no record of him before he joined the FBI" Mozzie said as he poured himself a glass of wine

"So what? Maybe he changed his name" Neal shrugged

"Oh he changed it alright. I showed his picture to Alex" Mozzie began

"Alex?" Neal interrupted

"Yes Alex, stop interrupting. I showed his picture to Alex. She knew him in Seattle before he joined the FBI, only he wasn't Harry Black then, he was Harry Evans" Mozzie explained

"So?" Neal asked

"He also went by another name. the Prince of Shadows" Mozzie

"**The **Prince of Shadows? As in Seattle's answer to the Dentist of Detroit?" Neal asked, he may have already been working for the FBI when the Prince showed up, but even he'd heard of the guy

"Yes him, you're working with your own heir apparent to the throne of the American criminal Underworld" Mozzie looked like he was about to wet himself, he was so excited

"I'll talk to him, you're sure about this?" Neal asked

"Absolutely, Brit Suit was one of us" Mozzie smiled

oOo

Neal walked into the office on Monday with a smile on his face.

"Hey Harry, you used to live in Seattle right?" he asked as he sat on edge of the younger man's desk

"Yeah, why?" Harry looked at him

"Did you ever hear of the Prince of Shadows?" Neal looked at him with a knowing look in his eye.

Harry looked around and then jerked his head towards the door. He led the way to the men's room.

"How did you find out?" he looked at Neal

"Mozzie, I asked him to ask around about you. Ever hear of Alex Hunter?" Neal smiled

Harry gritted his teeth "damn right I've heard of her. That bitch screwed me over" he hissed

"Seriously?" Neal laughed

"We'd just stolen a Rembrandt from the Seattle Museum Downtown, and she pushes me out of the getaway van while we're doing fifty down main street" Harry threw his hands in the air

"A Rembrandt? Really?" Neal asked

Harry nodded, "do me a favour and don't tell Peter, he'll kill me" he asked

"Sure thing pal, but do you really have the mysterious powers that folks say you do?" Neal asked

"Maybe, maybe not" Harry smirked and left the room.

oOo

Author's notes.

To whichever anonymous reviewer it was that suggested it, thanks for the idea of Mozzie being the one who told Neal about Harry's shady past, I liked it.

Next chapter; Will Harry's other secrets be revealed? Will the rest of the team find out about the Prince of Shadows? Read on.


	5. Just A Flesh Wound

Author's Note; Ender/Timmy, belongs to Desmothenes87, if he/she has any problems with me borrowing him for this, I will gladly rewrite this chapter, although I really hope he/she doesn't mind because he's such a great character. He comes from his/her stories _Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger _and _Crosshairs_, which I suggest you read if you are a White Collar fan (and even if you're not), because they are amazing. Peace out.

oOo

Almost two years with White Collar and Harry still hated the van. He really hated the van.

"I'm going to die" he huffed irritably

"Cowboy up, honestly you're worse than Neal" Peter grumbled as they waited for Neal to give them the signal to move

"_I guess we have a deal_" came over the wire

"That's the signal! Everybody move!" Peter yelled.

The team jumped out of the van, running into the warehouse with guns drawn since they knew the perp was packing.

Neal ran clear as they opened fire on Carter and his goons, they were more than a little out gunned but managed to take out three of the henchmen and Carter. The final guy wasn't going to give up anytime soon and Harry took a round in the shoulder.

"Man down!" Peter yelled, only to hear a final shot.

Harry still stood on his feet firmly, grimacing with pain as he fired a kill shot into the final guy's neck from thirty feet away, which with a shoulder wound was impressive.

"Not as down as you thought Peter" Harry smiled as he holstered his Glock 23 (an unusual choice, most agents opted for the 22).

"Get an ambulance in here now!" Peter ordered

"On it boss" Diana said and radioed it in

"I'll be fine, it's just a flesh wound" Harry rolled his eyes "honestly, I've had worse"

"I don't give a damn, you're going to hospital" Peter ordered

"Harry! Are you ok?" Neal came running over

"'Tis but a flesh wound" Harry laughed

"If you say anything about shubberies I'll put another bullet in you" Neal glared

Harry laughed again but winced "ow" he mumbled as an ambulance pulled into the building.

Harry was quickly bundled into the ambulance and carted off to Lenox Hill Hospital.

oOo

"We've stitched him up but I want him to stay overnight for observation" the Doctor said

"Hey! I'm right here!" Harry complained from where he was handcuffed to the bed

"Why is he cuffed to the bed?" Diana asked

"He's tried to escape three times now, so we thought it best to restrain him" she explained "stop complaining, we'll let you go at twelve o'clock tomorrow" she rolled her eyes

"Twelve?" Harry asked, looking worried "couldn't it be a bit earlier?"

"Nope, sorry" the Doctor left the room

"What's up?" Neal asked

"I'm supposed to be meeting my friend Luna for coffee in London at eleven tomorrow"

"How would you pull that off? It's a three hour flight" Peter asked

"Bugger" Harry muttered

"Harry? Is there something you'd like to share with us?" Elizabeth asked

"I guess I have no choice now do I?" he let out a huff, "do you guys believe in magic? I mean real magic, not those cheep parlour tricks that Neal does"

"Hey!"

"Where is this heading?" Peter asked

"Well, I'm a wizard" Harry stated simply

"A wizard? Like, Gandalf type wizard?" Jones laughed

"A bad comparison but similar yes"

"I think we should call the Doctor back, he's delusional" Diana said

"I can prove it" Harry interrupted

"Go on then" Elizabeth said to him with her eyebrows raised

Harry pulled his wand from his pocket with a little difficulty due to the cuff on his right hand. Neal laughed at the sight of the thing.

"Wingardium Leviosa" Harry muttered, ignoring him as he pointed his wand at the vase by his bedside. The vase rose from the table and hovered for a moment before Harry let it settle back on the table.

"Whoa" Jones said as the group stared

"Given that most of you are federal agents I think it won't matter but I figure I ought to tell you that I just broke the law by doing that" Harry as he tried to put his wand away "bloody cuffs. Alohomora" he tapped his wand against the cuffs and they sprang open "basic unlocking charm" he said as they stared

"What do you mean you broke the law?" El asked

"A little thing called the International Statute of Secrecy. Muggles, that's non-magic folks like you guys, aren't allowed to know wizards exist, there are some exceptions to the rule of course; the parents of muggle-born children for example. That's witches or wizards with non-magic parents. Or muggles who are married to wizards or witches" Harry explained

"Wow, so what does that have to do with you being in London for eleven tomorrow morning?" Peter asked

"Wizards and witches can do this thing called apparition, it's basically teleportation form one place to another, although you have to have a licence to do it across borders, which I do. I regularly apparate back to England to visit my friends and family over there, it was one of the conditions of me moving State-side" Harry answered

"But because they won't release you until twelve, you're going to have to miss coffee with your friend" Neal reasoned

"Exactly" Harry nodded

"So call her, or one of us can"

"Unfortunately, despite her quirky nature, Luna is, like most wizards, completely technologically inept" Harry rolled his eyes

"How bad are we talking?" El asked

"They still send letters on parchment tied to the legs of owls. The only person I know of who can contact Luna that has a cell phone is Hermione" Harry sighed and then narrowed his eyes "did I just say cell phone? Dear God I've gone native"

"Chill, does this Hermione have a cell phone? Neal laughed

"Yes, the number's in my phone. Just ask her to tell Luna that something came up and I can't meet her for coffee tomorrow" Harry handed him the phone.

Neal left the room and went outside the hospital. He searched through the contact list until he found Hermione's number and hit dial.

"Hello? Harry?"a woman's voice spoke on the other end

"Hi, is this Hermione?" Neal asked

"Yes, who's this?" she replied

"Oh good, my name's Neal Caffrey, I work with Harry" Neal said "he asked me to call you since he can't do it himself right now"

Meanwhile, in the Weasleys' kitchen.

Hermione furrowed her brow "is Harry alright?" she asked

"He's fine, the docs stitched him up"

"Stitched him up? That implies something bad happened, is he ok?"

"He's fine, work related injury, hazard of the job really. The point is, he asked me to call you and get you to tell, Luna, I think her name is, that he won't be able to make it for coffee tomorrow" Neal explained

"Mr. Caffrey, if your communication skill don't improve in the next thirty seconds, I'm tracking this call and putting a bullet in you" Hermione was really getting worried now

"Please don't, I don't think mine and Harry's boss could cope with having two of his guys in hospital with gunshot wounds" Neal laughed

"Please tell me you didn't just say that Harry was shot" Hermione grabbed hold of the counter while the others in the room looked over at her, horrified

"Like I said, the Doctors stitched him up; they just want to keep him in overnight so he can't make it over there for coffee with his friend tomorrow since they won't let him out until twelve" Neal explained

"Where is he?" she asked

"The hospital obviously"

"Which one genius?" she yelled, on the other end of line, Neal winced

"Lenox Hill, Manhattan" Neal informed her

"Thank you Mr. Caffrey" she said as calmly as she could manage and hung up.

Hermione turned to the others.

"Please tell me that was some kind of prank Hermione" Ginny looked like she was about to cry

"I wish it was, we'd better get over there" she answered

"You four go, Harry won't want all of us there, just call when you know what happened" Molly gestured to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna

"We will Molly" Luna patted the older woman's white hair kindly.

The four of them apparated to an alleyway across the street from the hospital.

"Come on, let's go. Does anyone remember what surname Harry's using now?" Ron asked, his best friend having changed his surname since leaving England

"Lupin-Black I think" Ginny said

"Ok"

They went inside and asked the receptionist if there was a patient under that name listed. She said there was but said visiting was restricted to family and FBI approved visitors.

"I'm his girlfriend" Ginny told her

"I'm sorry, but unless you're a blood relative I have to check with the FBI" she said

"Then check with them, how long will it take?"

"Just one moment" she picked up the phone and spoke for a moment with whoever was on the other end, someone from the FBI probably

"The agent in charge is coming down" the receptionist said.

A few minutes later, a man with dark hair in a suit came over to them.

"Miss Weasley?" he asked

"Yes" Ginny jumped to her feet

"Agent Peter Burke, FBI. And these are?" he shook hands

"Um, my brother Ron and her girlfriend, Hermione" she introduced distractedly

"You must be one Neal spoke to" agent Burke said kindly "follow me, he's expecting you" he led them to Harry's room, where there was a guard on the door.

When they entered, Harry smiled at them, his left arm bond in a sling. There were a lot of people in suits in the room, which made Ginny nervous.

"Hey sweetheart, you didn't need to some all this way" Harry kissed her

"The man on the phone said you'd been shot" she sobbed

"Dammit" Harry glared at Neal "I'm fine honey, just a flesh wound"

"Why are you cuffed to the bed?" she asked.

When Neal had told him that Hermione had said she was coming to see if he was ok, Harry had, once again, attempted to run for it. As a result, Peter had cuffed him back to the bed.

"Oh this, I kept trying to run away, you know I hate hospitals" he laughed and winced

"What happened?" Ron asked the assembled agents

"We were taking down a jewel smuggling ring, when we went in, they opened fire. This idiot," agent Burke cuffed Harry lightly round the back of the head, "took a round to the shoulder"

"He still managed to stay on his feet and fire a round into the guy's jugular from thirty feet though" Neal shrugged

Harry coughed loudly, trying to block Neal's words from reaching his friends' ears.

"What the Hell were **you** doing at an FBI raid?" Hermione asked, incredulous

"I get the feeling there's been some communication issues here" Diana said

"Please tell me you weren't part of the gang they were busting" Ron put his face in his hand

"What? No" Harry said quickly

"That would be ridiculous" Neal laughed

"Well he is cuffed to the bed with guards outside the door and a room full of FBI agents" Hermione reasoned

"He's on **our **side" Peter explained

"You've lost me" Ginny said, confused

"He's FBI, he's worked with White Collar Crimes for almost two years now" Neal explained

Ginny's face went blank, then her eyes narrowed, she gritted her teeth and a second later the entire FBI team was attempting to pull her hands away from where they had latched herself around his throat.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! If you ever do anything this stupid again I am going to kill you myself! What the **Hell** were you thinking? When you moved to America you promised you'd stay out of trouble" she sobbed

"I'm sorry honey, I tried, but really, when you think about it, I've had worse" he attempted to pat her head consolingly but was hindered by the cuffs. He fiddled with them for a second and they fell off

"How did you?" Neal asked

"Wizard thing"

Hermione, Ron and Ginny gasped.

"Relax, they know, I accidentally let slip about meeting Luna in London tomorrow and I had no choice but to tell them. I hate keeping secrets from the team" Harry told them

Neal coughed significantly in the background

"Except for **that **one, but we're not going to discuss that, are we Neal?" Harry glared at him

"No, not at all. Especially since the statute of limitations hasn't-"

"Neal!" Harry hissed

"Oops" Neal shut up quickly

"What was that about? I thought you didn't keep secrets from the team Harry?" Peter asked

"Damn. Ok, I'll tell you but I want full immunity"

"Now I'm intrigued, why would you need full immunity?" Diana asked

"Because the statute of limitations hasn't run out on some of it yet"

"Ok fine, full immunity, now talk" Peter ordered even as he re-latched the cuffs on Harry's wrist

"Have you guys ever heard of the Prince of Shadows?" he leant away from Peter as the assembled FBI agents shared shocked looks

"As in the famous con-man, thief and forger, that Prince of Shadows?" Jones asked

"The kid who's rumoured to be Neal Caffrey's bastard son?" Diana added

"Um, ok. **Alleged** con-man, thief and forger. And believe me Neal and I are no relation" Harry shuddered at the very thought "just because I was his heir apparent doesn't make me his bastard son ok"

"**You** are the Prince of Shadows? Seattle's answer to the Dentist of Detroit?" Peter asked, looking stunned

"I **was** the Prince, emphasis on past tense there Peter old pal" Harry explained

"You are so lucky I gave you full immunity or I'd be haulin' your ass to SecMax right now" the older agent glared

"I turned over a new leaf, joined the FBI. And half the stuff that was blamed on me I didn't do anyway. I don't do violent crime unless it's beating the crap out of a few rapists and murderers every once in a while" Harry said hurriedly

"You knew about this?" Peter's brown eyes narrowed as he looked at Neal

"I gave him a gag order, he couldn't have told you anything if he'd wanted to" Harry explained

"You were in Dragon's Nest?" Diana asked

"Only for three years, age six to nine. My Uncle moved out here on business and I ran away, got picked up by social services and then the Triad picked me for the third generation" Harry explained

"I didn't know until he showed me the tattoo, we were in different generations, I was a second, he was a third. I didn't knew there'd even been a third" Neal shrugged

"Sorry, but what's Dragon's Nest?" Hermione asked

"I don't think we're allowed to tell you" Neal said

"It's ok Neal, they're on the list" Harry said

"How the heck did they get on the list?"

"I put them there dummy"

"You can do that?" Neal looked surprised

"If you're an operative of first lieutenant or higher you can" Harry answered

"I never knew that"

"So what **is** Dragon's Nest?" Ginny asked

Harry sighed "you may want to take a seat, this is gonna take a while"

oOo

Author's Note.

DUN! DUN! DUN! Cliff-hanger ahoy. What is Dragon's Nest? Find out in chapter 6.


	6. Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

Author's Note. This section is based on Desmothenes87's stories _Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger _and _Crosshairs_. To get to know Ender and his background more, I suggest you read those stories (and the others that go with them).

oOo

"Dragon's Nest" Harry began "was a program launched by the CIA in the late seventies, it involved gathering up gifted children from foster homes and orphanages and bringing them to The School; a facility whose location I'm not at liberty to disclose. Once there, the children; usually aged between five and thirteen, were trained in various things including the arts, sciences and humanities. The main bulk of the training, however, was battle tactics and espionage" he explained

"You mean they were training children as spies?" Hermione looked horrified

"It was the later years of the Cold War Hermione; the Russians were doing something similar at the time as well. The program was based on a book called _Battle School_ by Orson Scott Card. We were trained to be the toughest, smartest and most unlikely soldiers the world had ever seen" Harry told her

"It's still terrible" Hermione pulled a face

"There were three generations, the first was in '77, the second, of which Neal here was a member, was in '82, and the third was '86. My generation, the last generation" Harry said "they shut down the program in 1990, just before the war ended. Most of the members moved on, went on to become some of the best in their fields; lawyers, CEOs and Doctors, a few even joined the CIA proper as soon as they were old enough" he smiled

"So you were trained as a cold war spy?" Luna asked from the door, having finally made her way to the room

"Yeah, I wondered where you were, figured you'd tag along" he smiled at her

"So you guys have all kinds of crazy skills from all this training?" Ron asked, stupefied

"We still train, me, Neal and Ender" Harry smiled

"Ender? What sort of name is that?" Ron laughed

"It probably comes from the same root language as 'Weasley'" Harry snickered

"Touché"

"His real name's Timothy, but he prefers Ender, it's the name of one of the key characters in _Battle School_, so he took it as his nickname. Ender was part of the first generation of Dragon Agents, the only problem is, once he hits twelve, because of a spell gone wrong by an ancient druid, he jumps forward through time and reverts to three years old" Harry explained "something I plan to correct as soon as I'm out of here" he rolled his eyes

"You could do that?" El asked

"Piece of cake, from what Ender told me, I know what spell the druid was trying to use. Now all I have to do is locate the right counter spell and then hey presto; one kid who will age as normal and not disappear when he hits twelve" Harry shrugged and winced as his shoulder twinged painfully

"Be careful, you could hurt yourself if you're not careful" Ginny kissed his cheek

"I've had worse, and I'm not just talking about the stuff at school, I still remember Al Jufrah in '87, God that was painful" he winced as he shuddered

"What happened?" Diana asked

"Yeah, this was after my time so I don't know about this one" Neal asked

"Oh no, don't make me tell this story please" Harry begged

"Tell us and I'll take the cuffs off" Peter said

"Alright, you twisted my arm" Harry settled back on his pillows and sighed "it was April, some terrorists had hijacked a passenger plane out of Tripoli and forced it to fly to a small airstrip in Al Jufrah, which is in the middle of the desert. The flight was full of both Libyan and American citizens, the two governments weren't on the best of terms but agreed to work together to rescue the hostages" he began

"The CIA called us in, Project Dragon's Nest had quite the reputation across the world but only those directly involved actually knew that the operatives were kids. While the CIA sent in a 'cover force'; a team of adult agents who would work with the locals, we were secretly planning our own mission. We went in, took out the terrorists under cover of darkness after removing the potential of witnesses with some smoke grenades. We managed to get rid of them all with no civilian casualties but I took two rounds to the leg, took me four months for it to heal completely" he huffed

"What did the Libyans think had happened?" Hermione asked, sounding awed

"The cover team took the flack for that too, told the Libyans that they'd gone in without them under strict orders from the higher ups" Harry laughed

"That's pretty good, almost reminds me of Budapest in '84" Neal laughed

"I heard of that one, it was required reading. The teachers called it Dragon's Nest's finest hour" Harry laughed

"What happened in Budapest?" Jones asked

The two Dragons laughed

"Wait, Budapest in 1984, wouldn't that be around the time of the American embassy siege?" Hermione asked

"Oh yeah, CIA operatives went in under cover of darkness to relieve the American embassy in Hungary after Chechen rebels seized control. That was you guys?" Jones looked stunned

"Yep, I have the scar on my butt to prove it" Neal smiled

"So that's where that came from" Peter looked at him

"So didn't need that mental image" Ron closed his eyes and rubbed them furiously

"Never mind that, speaking of Ender, who's picking him up from school?" Harry asked

"I'll go, we should head out anyway, let Harry rest" Elizabeth smiled and ruffled his ebony hair

"Tell him I said hi" Harry smiled as the various agents left

"Are you ok though?" Ginny asked

"Of course, when are you heading back?" he asked

"Not until you're out of here, and even then we're sticking around until we're sure you're ok" Ginny crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at him

"Where do you plan on staying? There's no way you can stay at my apartment, there's not enough room" Harry laughed

"A hotel then, there must be one nearby" Ginny shrugged

"The nearest place to my apartment that I can think of is the one on west 94th" Harry said

"What's it called?" Hermione asked

"Er, the Days Inn Hotel I think" Harry replied

"Oh yes, here it is" Hermione said as she looked it up on her phone

"Alright fine, but if you four are staying in the city then the least I can do is pay for your rooms" Harry insisted

"You're not going to let us say no are you?" Luna smiled

"Not a snowball in Hell's chance" Harry replied

"Alright then, can put your details into the form then if you're paying?" Hermione passed him the phone and he put the information in for her

"There we are; a Queen and a twin" she smiled as she put the phone away

"You and Ron are having the Queen I take it?" Ginny laughed

"We're the only couple present" Hermione shrugged

"Last time I checked, you're not married" Ginny smirked

"Like that would stop you and Harry" Hermione scoffed

"If Ginny and I had to stay in a hotel, I'd be booking separate rooms" Harry raised his eyebrows at her

"Seriously?" Ron looked surprised at him

"Ok maybe not separate rooms, but separate beds at least"

"I gave up trying to get in his pants a long time ago, he just won't do it" Ginny laughed

"Just trying to keep you honest" Harry said, "and avoid the almost certain lynching I'd get from your Mother and brothers if I got you knocked up before the wedding bells" he murmured

"I knew it!" Ron pointed at him accusingly

"Let's just get going, we still need to apparate home, grab enough stuff for this stay and tell everyone that Harry's ok" Hermione shook her head in disbelief

"Right you are Mione, see you tomorrow mate" Ron smiled at his best friend and the four of them left.

"What have I let myself in for?" Harry sighed as he lay back on his pillows and just gave up.

oOo

The following day, Harry was collected from the hospital by an armed escort; namely the White Collar team. The Weasleys had come along for the ride and Harry now discovered that the number of rooms he was paying for had increased since Mr. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, George and Percy had all taken the week off from work and the entire Weasley clan, plus Andy and Teddy, were now staying in New York to keep an eye on him. Elizabeth, June, Mozzie and Christie had all tagged along as well and they had decided it would be a good idea to bring Ender along.

The seven year old boy had been stark white when Harry came out of the hospital, his arm still in the sling, and had come running over with such force that all of the wind had been knocked clean out of the older man when the boy had barrelled into him.

"Harry!" he screamed as he ran over. Seconds later Harry doubled over as Ender crashed into him

"Hey Ender" Harry squeaked as he patted the boy's blond hair with his free hand

"Are you ok?" Ender asked as he pulled away, giving Harry the opportunity to gasp in a breath

"A little winded, but otherwise fine" Harry doubled over, his free hand on his knee as he tried to gain his breath

"You shouldn't still be winded, you got shot yesterday" Ender looked panicked "maybe you have a punctured lung or something!" he wailed

"I'm not winded because of the bullet kiddo, I'm winded because you ran into me so hard" Harry laughed when he could finally breathe again

"Oh" Ender looked less stressed "sorry about that" he blushed

"It's ok buddy, you were worried about me" Harry smiled at the boy kindly

"Are you ok Harry?" Ginny asked as the group gathered around them

"I'm fine, Ender can be a little over-enthusiastic is all" Harry smiled and kissed her

"Yuck, lieutenant, have some shame" Ender complained

"Ha ha, I haven't been called that in a long time" Harry laughed

"Lieutenant?" Andromeda looked at him

"Ah" Harry said

"Don't worry, we explained everything last night" Ginny told him

"Oh, that's alright then" Harry smiled and ruffled Teddy's hair "I was first lieutenant under commander Caste here" he patted Ender's head

"Caste was my birth parents' name" Ender explained

"Your real first name is Timothy isn't it?" Ginny asked, Ender nodded, "Timothy Caste, that's an amusing name"

"Tell me about it, better than Danny Brooks though" Ender grinned at Neal

"Hey! It wasn't my fault I got saddled with that name. Besides," Neal grinned "it could be worse"

"That's true" Ender snickered

"At least it wasn't Emrys Spook" the two of them said together as Harry hid his face in his free hand

"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" he said

"Nope"

"It was just something I came up with on short notice" Harry grumbled

"Emrys Spook? Who the Hell is Emrys Spook?" George laughed

"My Uncle and Aunt moved to New York for his business, although back then we lived in the Bronx" Harry explained "after a while I just got so fed up with them that I ran away. When the woman from social services found me I told her my name was Emrys Spook, I knew if I told her my real name they'd find the Dursleys and send me back" he shrugged

"What happened then?" Molly asked

"I was put into the system and sent to the Saint Patrick's Catholic Orphanage on 5th avenue" Harry told her

"I know that building, it closed down in 1989; it's now the Austrian Cultural Exchange" Mozzie said

"Half of it is, the other half is the Versace building next door" Harry nodded

"I was there for two months, then the people from Project Dragon's Nest came and found me" Harry smiled, "I'll never forget the day that Domrémy and Haidren showed up at the door" he shook his head "never mind that though, we ought to get going"

"Was she still the same when you met her?" Neal asked Harry

"Domrémy? Yeah, still fierce, still awesome, still drop dead gorgeous" Harry laughed "but then she is French, so what do you expect?"

"Merci Emrys, you always were a little charmer" a voice called from behind them

"Domrémy!" Harry, Neal and Ender exclaimed as one

"Bonjour mes petits libellules*" she smiled, she had pale blonde hair and blue eyes

"Bonjour Mademoiselle Lemercier" the three chorused back, sounding like a French class greeting their teacher

"Bonjour mon cher garçons*" she kissed each of the three on the cheek, despite Ender cringing and wiping his cheek on his sleeve "oh Ender, you are still the same as you ever were" she laughed

"I doubt he'll ever change Domrémy, he's a stubborn little-" Harry began

"Language monsieur Spook, you know what will happen if you cuss in front of me" Domrémy interrupted

"Oh yes, because you really still carry your- OWW!" he waved his fingers around as she had rapped him sharply across the knuckles with a ruler

"I do still carry it. You know I do not tolerate bad language Emrys, I think out off all your class mates you were on the receiving end of this," she waved the ruler threateningly "more than most. I still remember the day I beat you across the derriere with it" she smiled

"Yeah, so do I, vividly" Harry eyed the ruler carefully, as if afraid it would attack him again

"Me too, that was hilarious. In fact," Ender peered at Domrémy closely "I think that's the same dress you were wearing that day"

"It is" she smiled and ruffled his hair

"Across the behind? What did he do to earn that?" Fleur asked

"He asked an inappropriate question of me. Had he been an adult I would have had him written up for sexual harassment" the French woman glared at him

"Harry? You have **got** to be joking" Hermione laughed

"I have to know what he asked now" Andromeda looked stunned

"I only asked her where she was keeping her gun" Harry blushed as the group burst out laughing

"I can sort of understand where he's coming from with that one, the dress doesn't leave much room for concealed firearms" Diana tried to stifle her laughter as she spoke

"I suppose you have a point, I'm still not going to tell you" she added to Harry

"I wouldn't expect you to Madame" the younger man had hidden his head under his jacket like a bird

"Well, never mind all that now, we should get Harry home; he needs to rest after all" Neal laughed

"You have a point Neal, let's get going" Harry smiled and they group moved off to pile in the back of the five cars that had been parked on the street.

oOo

Author's Notes.

* Bonjour mes petits libellules means 'Hello my little dragonflies' in French, Domrémy uses this as a term of endearment when referring to any of the ex-students of Dragon's Nest. Similarly 'Bonjour mon cher garçons' means 'hello my dear boys' in French.

The next chapter will skip ahead a few months.


	7. Rings on Her Fingers

Harry looked over at Teddy, smiling as the little boy played in the park with Ender. After being a little dubious of the other boy Teddy had warmed to the blond and they had become fast friends, the two boys and Bill and Fleur's daughter Victoire being considered a miniature Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"They're having fun" Andromeda smiled as they watched Ender try and teach Teddy how to play baseball

"They sure are" Harry laughed, Andromeda had been bringing Teddy to visit him in New York at weekends a lot lately, "is everything ok back home Andy?" he asked

"Of course, obviously there are the usual problems but-"

"Problems? What kind of problems?" Harry looked at her, worried

"The Ministry hasn't changed its position on werewolves at all" Andy bit her lip "there's talk of bringing back the old non-human registry"

"They can't do that, Kingsly wouldn't let it happen" Harry shook his head.

The non-human registry had been a system imposed during the first war against Voldemort; all non-human magical creatures had to register with the Ministry of Magic. There were restrictions on where they could live and they weren't allowed to marry outside their own species or have children unless it was with someone of their own species and even then the child had to be registered at birth and non-humans were only allowed to have a maximum two children.

"I know; I don't want Teddy growing up in that kind of world. That and the fact that I really want to get away from the old house, it brings back bad memories, especially this time of year" she took a deep breath to steady herself

"I've been thinking about that" Harry said and pulled her over to sit beside him "I want you and Teddy to move out here, I have a house on standby for me and Ginny after we- you know" he nodded "but there's a couple across the street who are moving out of State and I asked them to hold off on selling the house until I spoke to you"

"I think Teddy would like that. And why didn't you tell me you'd proposed to Ginny?" Andromeda smiled at him

"I haven't, not yet. I want to do everything perfectly; I was thinking the top of the Empire State Building on the fourth of July" he smiled back

"Sounds delightful sweetie, but run the moving idea past Teddy first ok?" she ruffled his hair

"I'll do it in a minute, give to boys a chance to play a little longer first" Harry laughed

"Speaking of marriage, do you have a ring?" Andromeda asked

"Yeah" he pulled out the chain around his neck that held the two medallions that Luna had given him before he left for America, all the way back in 1998 "Remus gave me this before he died, he thought that my mum would have wanted me to have it". Threaded on the silver chain was a silver ring with a large emerald set between two diamonds.

"Lilly's?" Andromeda asked

"The ring my dad gave her when he proposed, apparently it was grandma Dorea's, given to her by grandpa Charlus when he proposed to her and so on back through the family" Harry smiled

"How beautiful" Andy wiped a tear from her eye "and you plan on carrying on the tradition" she smiled and hugged him

"Yes" he nodded, just then, the two boys came running up to them

"Harry! Grandma! I did it, I hit the ball!" Teddy squealed with delight

"Well done sweetheart" Andy smiled and hugged the boy "Harry has something he wants to talk to you about" she pushed him towards the older man

"What is it Harry?" Teddy tilted his head to the side adorably

"Your grandma and I were just talking about what a cool idea it might be if you two moved out here to New York. There's a couple who live near my spare house up in Upper Manhattan and they're moving away and I was thinking you and grandma could move in" Harry smiled as he pulled Teddy onto his knee

"What about Auntie Ginny?" the little boy asked

"Well, now don't tell her this, but I'm planning to ask her to marry me soon" Harry smiled "and depending on what we decide she might move out here to live with me in the spare house, which means we'll be right down the street" he ruffled Teddy's hair, which had turned bubblegum pink and Harry laughed as he was reminded of the little boy's Mother

"Ok then" Teddy's hazel eyes, so like his Father's, lit up "as long as I can sleep over at Ender's"

"As long as Mr. and Mrs. Burke say it's ok then I'm sure you can" Andy smiled

"I'm sure mum and dad will say it's ok. Every second weekend you can stay at mine and every fourth week I'll sat at your house" Ender hugged Teddy's shoulders as he spoke

"Ok cool" Teddy laughed and they boys ran off to continue playing

"Kids" Andy rolled her eyes

"Tell me about it" Harry laughed

oOo

Harry had invited Ginny to attend an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. It may not seem like it from the outside, but Ginny was quite interested in art and enjoyed the finer things in life, despite her rather tomboyish nature. That was one of the things Harry loved about her. His plan was simple; view the exhibition and then take her to a meal in the museum's restaurant. Considering it was considered the twelfth most expensive restaurant in New York, it seemed like a good choice of venue for his little proposal.

"You look amazing" he smiled as they walked around the museum. She was wearing a dark green silk cocktail dress which looked amazing with her hair which was pinned up and held in place by the silver chopsticks set with emeralds he had given her for Christmas the previous year. Around her neck was the emerald and diamond necklace he'd given her for her birthday just two months previously.

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself Potter" she laughed and kissed him as they stopped in front of a painting.

Harry smiled and took a deep breath, he had to stay calm or she would think something was going on. After a little while, they decided to go and have their meal.

When they ordered, Harry made sure to ask for a bottle of champagne with two glasses.

"I hope you're not trying to get me drunk so as to have your wicked way with me Harry, I'm sure your FBI colleagues would frown on that" Ginny laughed as the waiter came back with the bottle

"Don't be silly darling, I'm a perfect gentleman. Allow me" he said, standing up to pour the champagne into her glass, carefully slipping the ring into the glass when she wasn't looking

"To us" she toasted him, not looking at the glass in her hand

"To us" he agreed and sipped his drink

"Oh my!" she squeaked and used her knife to fish the ring out of the bottom of the glass

"Well would you look at that?" he laughed and took the ring from her to dry it with his napkin, making a show of pretending to drop it.

He knelt in front of her, down on one knee and took her hand in his, holding the ring with his other hand.

"Oh no" she blushed, catching on

"Ginnevra Molly Weasley, you are the love of my life and it would be no greater honour to me than to have you by my side for the rest of our lives. Please my darling, marry me" he smiled

"Oh my God" Ginny laughed "yes, but only on the condition that you never call me Ginnevra again"

"Deal" he slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up to kiss her deeply

"On second thoughts, let's skip dinner" she broke away and pulled him out of the restaurant, Harry pausing only to pay their bill as the entire crowd in the restaurant applauded them.

oOo

"You should have seen it Luna, it was so romantic, if a little cliché" Ginny smiled as she sat chatting to Luna in the Burrow kitchen

"Hey! I am not cliché" Harry grumbled

"Old fashioned then" Ginny laughed

"Never mind that, have you thought about a date yet?" Luna asked excitedly

"We were thinking summer, maybe August" Ginny smiled

"What about August 21st? Midsummer, perfect time for a wedding" Luna suggested

"Sounds like a plan, what d'you think Harry?" Ginny asked

"I'll leave the planning up to you, I've done my bit" Harry laughed "but yeah, Midsummer sounds perfect" Harry kissed Ginny lightly

"The big question is, your place or mine?" Ginny said

"Beg your pardon?" Harry looked at her, his emerald eyes wide

"The wedding. Here at the Burrow like Bill and Fleur's or over in the States?" Ginny clarified

"Oh! I dunno, what's easier?" Harry shrugged

"The thing is, most of the people on your side will be work colleagues, most of whom are muggles, so getting them here will be a problem" Ginny rolled her eyes "the lucky thing is that I want a muggle wedding rather than a traditional wizarding wedding anyway so that's that problem out of the way. That would be an argument for having the wedding over there but getting all of my family there for the wedding would cause problems, especially great Aunt Muriel" Ginny huffed

"Yeah, good point" Harry thought for a moment "well, it'll be easier to get everyone on my end over here than getting all of yours over there"

"You think it would be ok?" Ginny smiled

"Yeah, the rest of the team get's the same time off and Elizabeth is her own boss so if she wants time off for a wedding she can take it" Harry shrugged

"What about the rest of them? Mozzie, June, Christie?"

"Mozzie, I don't know what he does for a living other than the obvious, so I think he'll be ok. June is retired so I'm sure she'd be ok with coming and Christie can probably get time off at the surgery so she should be ok to come" Harry smiled as Molly came in "Ender will be on summer break so he should be able to come too"

"What about the team you worked with before? At the BAU?"

"The only problem there could be JJ; she doesn't get the same holiday time as everyone else so she might not be able to make it" Harry shrugged

"Well, I hope you realise that you're not getting out of wedding plans as easily as you seem to think young man" Molly admonished "because you'll be helping out just as much as anyone else in the run up to this wedding"

"Oh God help me" Harry rested his head against the table and groaned as the assembled women laughed.

oOo

Author's Notes.

I had trouble deciding how the relationship between Teddy and Ender would play out; I couldn't make up my mind whether they would be best friends of whether Teddy would be jealous of another little boy being so close to Harry. In the end I decided to make them friends, Harry having strictly told Ender not to lead Teddy down the same path that he, Harry and Neal ended up following (the life of crime basically). Despite this, Ender does plan to teach Teddy the basics, such as picking pockets and lock picking, with a little help from Mozzie and June.

The next few chapters will have the wedding and reception, so stay tuned.


End file.
